East Rockaway Lynbrook Letters to the Editor

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Social Security is not an entitlement for those of us who have contributed to the system. I paid into it from the time I was 13 until I retired in 2002. It’s my money! I paid into the system, and it’s now my time to collect.

It’s not my fault, nor the fault of all those others who have contributed, that Social Security is in such dire straits. Perhaps if Congress hadn’t started fiddling with the trust fund back in the Johnson administration, things would be different. Or if the politicians hadn’t started to use Social Security as a cash cow to pay off political debts by making people who never contributed a dime to the system eligible for benefits,

perhaps things would be different.

Perhaps Washington should stop putting the blame for the Social Security mess on the recipients and place it squarely where it belongs, on the doorstep of Congress. What a novel idea!

I’m one very annoyed Social Security recipient.

John F. Marino Island Park

The last thing we need

To the Editor: Another year and another promise for Belmont Park. How many promises for economic development in Elmont and Belmont have we heard? Now they tell us a soccer stadium will be built for $400 million from a once forgotten and once bankrupt soccer team. First it was video lottery terminals for jobs at Belmont. Remember that rally? We had County Executive Ed Mangano and other elected officials leading the chant at Belmont Park. But the VLTs went to Queens. Elmont was to get money from the VLTs in Queens, but I guess they forgot the money part. Next, it was the Shinnecocks and a possible hotel and casino. Elmont community leaders made good friends with the Shinnecock nation and were hopeful a casino would come. We were told to be quiet so that our elected officials in Albany could work out the details. They were all in favor, so we stood quiet, waiting. And all the deals went quietly away. Next, the Islanders were coming, they needed a home, so the Coliseum was going to be built at Belmont Park. But they’re going to Brooklyn. There were press conferences about the supermarket that’s always coming but never gets there. Now it’s a soccer stadium. Look at any location where a stadium exists, nothing good for a community. Even in New Jersey where they have a pro soccer team, the county has gone broke, and don’t walk more than two blocks from that stadium, you might not make it. Stadiums bring people in to spend money in the stadium but not in the community. But a stadium is only open during the playing season. The last thing we need is a stadium. There are some good ideas from some bright people for economic development at Belmont. Patrick NicolosiElmont

Learn about redistricting

To the Editor: In an effort to bring the political process closer to the people, the RVC Democratic Club has scheduled a special presentation, open to all, on Jan. 31 at the Sandel Center, 50 S. Park Ave. in Rockville Centre. The subject, “Redistricting and How It May Affect You,” is a timely one, as the Nassau County Legislature prepares to vote on a court-ordered plan to redraw the boundaries of the county’s legislative districts. The County Legislature must vote by March 5 on the plan to redraw the legislative districts in order to distribute the county’s population more equitably among them based on the 2010 census. The new boundary lines will become effective for the November 2013 election. With a little over a month until the vote, three redistricting plans have so far been created: one by the Republican members of the County’s Temporary Districting Advisory Commission; one by the Democratic members of the commission; and a third by a coalition of nonpartisan citizens’ groups. How will the redistricting affect you? In fact, it may have very little effect on your district, or it may split your community into two or more districts that may or may not even be contiguous. Your party affiliation is unimportant here; you don’t need to be a Democrat to attend. You simply need to feel that it’s necessary for all of us to understand what’s going on at all levels of government at all times. We hope you agree. If you need a ride, please call (516) 623-7826 and it will be arranged. It’s that important.

Sid Tanenbaum, who lived in Woodmere and owned a metal-stamping shop in Far Rockaway, where he was known more for his charitable ways than his two-handed set shot, has been honored for the past 30 years with a basketball tournament that raises scholarship money for students in the Five Towns.